Wintershall Dea invests in German hydrogen start up

Wintershall Dea has invested in Dresden-based hydrogen storage and transportation start-up AMBARtec, it said on October 10. The company became the start-up’s lead investor via its fully-owned subsidiary Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures.

“In addition to underlining its confidence in AMBARtec’s new technology, this investment also highlights Wintershall Dea’s commitment to supporting the development of a hydrogen market in Germany and Europe,” the company said.

AMBARtec’s HyCS (Hydrogen Compact Storage) technology offers compact and energy-efficient methods to store and transport hydrogen, Wintershall Dea said.

The HyCS technology is based on a process of loading and unloading hydogen into a storage unit containing iron. The loading process involves reducing the iron by introducing hydrogen, which releases steam. To unload the hydrogen, steam is reintroduced into the storage unit, which oxidises the iron.

The HyCS storage system uses a standard 20-foot intermodal container (TEU) that can hold 600 kg (20,000 kWh) of hydrogen. These containers, which do not have to be cooled nor bear the danger of hydrogen losses, can be transported by truck, train or ship.